Mona Blockprited Stashbag

I just returned from a road trip to Vancouver Island where I taught a 5-day workshop on Blockprinting on Fabric and Surface Design at Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts. Every summer artists from all over the world flock to the campus of Pearson College for two weeks to enjoy a variety of workshops offered at MISSA. Pearson College is situated by the ocean with seaside veiws from every classroom! MISSA offers workshops in, painting, pastels, drawing, mentorships, pottery, ceramics and printmaking annually. It was so lovely to connect and meet other artists and art instructors and to share in our enthusiasm for all things creative.

This was my first time teaching a 5-day workshop and I loved the pace of being able to go deeper into the process of block-printing on fabric that the 5 days offered. I taught the principals of value, color harmonies, texture, and design as it related to printmaking and fabric design. We ended the workshop with a collaborative print and it was so amazing that I actually got goosebumps!

Value, black, white and greys, positive and negative space.

Color and color harmonies, rainbow rolls, 2-part printing

Backgrounds, texture

Design principals

Printing with other material such as potatoes, styrofoam, elastics, fruit and veg. This fabric is created using the natural shape of a potato.

I am so excited to be sharing this fun medium in some up-coming workshops that I will be facilitating in the next couple of months. I am offering worshops in Smithers, Terrace and Castlegar and plans are in the works for more workshops in Kitimat and Hazelton. If you are a maker, sewer or quilter this is a wonderful way for you to make your own unique designs that can be used for your fabric creations.

I am going to be facilitating a workshop at MISSA this summer on Block-printing on Fabric so if you are interested in exploring this medium more intensely this is a great opportunity to do that. MISSA is in Metchosin and they host their workshops at the Pearson College Campus which is a beautiful setting.

For a year and half I have been at Artspace sharing a studio with June Parker and although it was a wonderful experience to be there I am happy to be moving back home. One of the advantages being that I will have all my art supplies back in one place! For the last couple of years I have primarily been focused on printmaking with my ongoing 100 Houses Project and block-printing on fabric. My painting was put to the side as I didn’t have enough room for all my supplies at my downtown studio. I look forward to taking up the brush again in the new year to further explore mixed-medium. This fall I took a couple of courses on graphic design and web design and I discovered that web design is not my thing! School took up so much of my creative energy and my 100 Houses Project was a bit neglected as a result. In the new year I look forward to continueing my 100 Houses Project, exploring more possibilities with block-printing on fabric, getting back into my painting and teaching more workshops.

This fall I applied to teach a 5 day workshop on Block-printing on Fabric at Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts and I was accepted. The dates for the workshop are July 2-6 2018. If you don’t know about MISSA I encourage you to check it out. I took a printmaking workshop with Carol Rae there a couple of summers ago and learnt so much while having a lovely time at the beautiful oceanside setting of Pearson College. Also keep an eye out as I will be offering more workshops locally as well as in Smithers and Terrace.

If you would like to purchase some of my house prints, paintings or block-printed items or you would like me to teach in your community you can contact me via this website or give me a call (250 563 2271) and we can set up an appointment. Thank you to all of you who have supported my creative endeavers over the years and I am excited to see what the new year will bring. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all.

Coming up in December I will be joining many other artists and artisans at the Annual Artisan Fair at Two Rivers Gallery. I will have an offering of my 100 Houses Project house prints, block-printed fabric handmade items and some of my smaller paintings and prints. This is an event that features local artists with their quality handmade items. I look forward to seeing you there.